Sulfamate derivatives having useful pharmaceutical activity in the areas of epilepsy, glaucoma, peptic ulcers and male infertility are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,075,351, 4,513,006, 4,591,601, 4,792,569, and 5,760,007. One of these compounds 2,3:4,5-bis-O-(1-methylethylidene)-beta-D-fructopyranose sulfamate known as topiramate has been demonstrated in clinical trials of human epilepsy to be effective as adjunctive therapy or as monotherapy in treating simple and complex partial seizures and secondarily generalized seizures and is currently marketed for the treatment of simple and complex partial seizure epilepsy with or without secondary generalized seizures.
Binge eating disorder (BED) is characterized by discrete periods of binge eating during which large amounts of food are consumed in a discrete period of time and a sense of control over eating is absent. Persons with bulimia nervosa have been reported to have electroencephalographic abnormalities and to display reduced binge eating in response to the anti-epileptic drug phenytoin. Also, in controlled trials in patients with epilepsy, topiramate was associated with suppression of appetite and weight loss unreleated to binge eating.
Binge eating disorder is a subset of a larger classification of mental disorders broadly defined as Impulse Control Disorders (ICDs) characterized by harmful behaviors performed in response to irresistible impulses. It has been suggested that ICDs may be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder or similarly, maybe forms of obsessive-complusive disorders. It has also been hypothesized that ICDs may be related to mood disorder or may be forms of affective spectrum disorder, a hypothesized family of disorders sharing at least one common physiologic abnormality with major depression. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), the essential feature of an ICD is the failure to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to the person or to others. For most ICDs, the individual feels an increasing sense of tension or arousal before committing the act, and then experiences pleasure, gratification, or release at the time of committing the act. After the act is performed, there may or may not be regret or guilt. ICDs are listed in a residual category, the ICDs Not Elsewhere Classified, which includes intermittent explosive disorder (IED), kleptomania, pathological gambling, pyromania, trichotillomania, and ICD not otherwise specified (NOS). Examples of ICDs NOS are compulsive buying or shopping, repetitive self-mutilation, nonparaphilic sexual addictions, severe nail biting, compulsive skin picking, personality disorders with impulsive features, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, eating disorders characterized by binge eating, and substance use disorders.